Four Day Pass and Deployment...

So I'm finally posting an overdue post, but I'm just now getting around to it. The third weekend in June I had the opportunity to see John before he left for Afghanistan. We had the got to spend 5 nights and 4 days together and it was absolutely perfect!!! I left right after my final to go run some errands around the Sapulpa area before I finally left at midnight to drive to Mississippi. It was about an 11 and 1/2 hour drive there, and I probably could have made it in less time if I hadn't had so many potty breaks. I drank tons of water and Gatorade to keep myself awake while I was driving. It also didn't help that about 45 miles into my drive I got pulled over and got a warning for speeding so I lost my nerve to speed at all the rest of the trip down. I know I know speeding is bad, but I was just so stinking excited to get to John.

After the long fairly uneventful drive I made it to Gulfport, where we stayed. By the time I got to the hotel John had called to say that he was going to be released early. So instead of being able to take a quick nap I had to rush and get all dolled and shower in 40 minutes, which I was able to accomplish but did result in some small cuts on my legs from shaving really fast with just water and a razor from the hotel (not a good idea). Once I had my hair and makeup on and heels I basically flew to where John was to pick him up. I was so nervous to see him which was silly, but I had butterflies all over like when we first told each other we liked each other. Well I had 35 new medic bags in my car for all the guys going over to make them more agile and effective. It took me, John's dad, and mom about 15-20 minutes to load them in my car, but when I got to John he was so excited/ready to leave he pulled the Sergeant card and had like 7 other medics helping unload the car so he could get the heck otta dodge. Once the bags were unloaded he pretty much ran out saying bye to the guys over his shoulder. When we were about 30 minutes away he remembered he hadn't packed anything. Fortunately I packed all his clothes etc because all he had with him was military uniforms, but he didn't even pack his toothbrush because he was so excited to leave with me. It was pretty cute because then he remembered he didn't have soap or deodorant. Even though he was completely unprepared it was sweet that he was so excited to see me that he forgot absolutely everything.

So the first night we were both so tired that we just stayed in and watched American Pickers on tv. It was really nice to just be in the same room doing something normal. I had decided before hand not to plan anything that way we could do whatever John wanted to do or nothing if he didn't want to do anything. The only thing we knew for sure was that we were going to go on a fancy date for our 3 year wedding anniversary since we were blessed enough to spend it together. So the first actual day we had together we woke up went to breakfast and then took a nap. John was so funny he loved all the naps for two reasons 1) they were longer than 15 minutes and were uninterrupted 2) he got to snuggle with the "prettiest girl in the world" (according to him). After the nap we read our scriptures together for about and hour which was really nice to do that as a family again. We pretty much just relaxed all day and then went to dinner. The next day we slept in super late which was awesome for John who had been getting up at 4:30 or 5 every morning during training. After we ate breakfast we took another nap then decided to explore the beach. Our hotel was seriously just across from the beach, so after our nap we decided to go for a stroll and check it out. So we put on our swim gear just in case. It was a little cloudy so being the brilliant person I am when John asked if we needed sunscreen I said, "Ehhh we won't be out here that long." Bad bad bad idea to get sunburned on the second day, but we did of course. After meandering the beach for about an I hour we decided to go jet-skiing. I had never been, which is crazy since I live in Oklahoma and we have more coastlines from all the lakes than either the East or West coast. It was a blast!!!! John of course being him threw me off intentionally a few times which he thought was just hilarious. I did manage to throw him off, but I fell off in the process so I say it counted John said it didn't. After a day getting burned to a crisp and jet-skiing we went on a double date with another couple that was staying in the same hotel that we are friends with. We went to see Thor which was pretty good. Before the movie John was noticeably starting to show a sunburn while I was not; which was weird because I'm way more fair-skinned than him. During the movie however I started noticing my legs and arms feeling really hot through my clothes. So after the movie we decided it would be wise to stop and get some aloe vera on the way back to the hotel. I was as red as Rudolph's nose by the time we got back to the hotel. Poor John was also burned, but he helped me put aloe vera on because I couldn't reach every where I was burned. So most of that evening and night was spent applying aloe vera to each other. My sunburn hurt so bad that even when John tried to warm up the aloe vera in his hands it still hurt to rub it on. We were both pretty miserable and shaky because the aloe vera cooled off the burn and made us chilly. Even though we were both hurting we were miserable together it was definitely better than being miserable apart. After applying aloe vera all night we slept fairly late the next day. So late in fact that we ate lunch instead of breakfast. The third day was our anniversary and John called and made reservations for dinner at a restaurant called Thirty-two. He also said we could do whatever I wanted to do that day, and even though we were sunburned we bought SPF 110 sunscreen and decided to go jet-skiing with the earlier mentioned couple. It was even more fun the second time around!! The second time we escaped sunburn thanks to the SPF 115 haha. After jet-skiing we went back to the hotel to get ready for our fancy date. I thought John looked quite handsome even with the sunburn. Our dinner was amazing. When John called to make the reservations the lady asked if it was a special occasion and John told her it was our anniversary. When we got to the restaurant, which was at the top floor ie the thirty-second floor of the IP casino, they had reserved a window seat for us. It was so romantic being able to look out and see the ocean. Our waitress was so nice and first told us happy anniversary. Then she handed us our menus and inside there was a personalized note saying happy anniversary. The chef even had a special small appetizer that was on the house just for us. Everything about the dinner was amazing the food was delicious, the service was friendly, and of course I had the best date most handsome date a girl could ask for. After the date we went back to the hotel and changed out of our fancy clothes and went to see Xmen first class, which John was pretty impressed with. He was into the comics as a kid. The fourth day was his last and we spent it getting things he needed and just spending time together.

I had to take him back by midnight and he wanted to be back a little early to make sure all his guys got back in time. I had to drive back to the hotel all by myself and sleep in a huge king size bed alone, which was lonely. The next day I went back to take some quick pictures of the guys with their new bags for the sponsors that donated money to buy the bags. So fortunately I did get to see John again for an hour or so. John had some things he wanted me to bring home and mail to him because he didn't have space to take it with him. In the process of loading his few things four other guys shyly asked if I could take some for their stuff home to their wives and girlfriends. I thought I was going to come home being able to see out of my rear windshield because I couldn't see driving down because of all the bags. So I became a carrier service which was ok, but involved a list so I could keep track of what belonged to who. After a lot of hugs and kisses and a few tears from me I finally had to leave. It was awful and so much harder to leave him again. I did get text him for a few days after I got back because they didn't leave right at first, but now he's in Afghanistan and the phone calls are intermittent and sporadic.

So far the deployment has been as expected, it stinks it's no fun and it's lonely. I have heard from him a few times and I have gotten an email from him, but while he's has been in transition it has been hard for him to have reliable phone access or Internet. We are both just ready for this to really get going and be over so he can come home. He did have a stop over flight in Ireland and his comment with a slight country accent was, "The people here sound funny." I was dying laughing. It was just one of those you had to be there for it to be funny kind of thing. So now I'm counting down days, weeks, and months until I have him home with me again.

Getting ready to go Jet-skiing

Movies and the first signs of sunburn

Anniversary Date

Our personalized menus

The dessert plate

Dropping him off

My car after five guys brought me their left over stuff

Road Trip

The first weekend in April I flew to Idaho to help my sister Rebekah drive back from college. Lucky duck, she got done with spring semester a whole month earlier than OU. The drive is about 22 hours, with minimal stops. It took us around 26 hours because we had to stop a couple of times to catch some zzzz's. My one request of Rebekah was that she be packed when I got there, so we could leave early Saturday morning. This of course didn't happen.

To begin my long road trip, I flew to Salt Lake City. My plane got in around 9 pm, and I had to wait for the 10:30 shuttle to Rexburg ID. It's about a 4 hour shuttle ride to Rexburg which put me getting there around 3 am. I called Bek when we were a couple miles out so she could be there to meet me at the drop off. Three things had happened; 1) I had drank a liter of water and really needed to use the restroom 2) I had left beautiful balmy 75 degrees in Oklahoma to go to 34 degrees in Idaho 3) Bek wasn't there when I arrived at the drop off. Fortunately it was 3 in the morning so there wasn't anyone to observe my shivering potty dance while I waited for Bek to get there. Once she arrived we hustled back to her apartment to which I discovered had not been packed and was in complete chaos. Her roommate and her were the only girls left in their apartment, but it looked like a F5 tornado had blown through. So we, we being Bek and I, decided that I would go to bed so one of us would be coherent the next day to drive. I woke up around 7 am because my friend Melissa was graduating, and we had breakfast together since I was unable to attend her graduation. Bek of course was delirious from being up all night packing.

After all the packing was done we then had to pack her car. It was definitely a challenge, but having moved three times with John and twice just me I totally had it down to a science how to squeeze everything in. By the time I was finished packing there wasn't a nook or cranny that was free. After all the packing and rearranging to get everything to fit I just had her snowboard left to fit somewhere. Well Bek has a roof rack so I decided we would just lash it down to the top. She had a few bungee cords, and her friend the eagle scout Danny "lashed 'em down tight." He did suggest that we squeeze the snowboard on the very top of the rest of the stuff, but I thought no way it won't fit lets just tie it down to the top. This resulted in being a bad idea later. Finally we were packed, the apartment cleaned, and keys turned in. We finally got onto the road around 12 pm. Bek's great idea was that she should drive first because "She had been up all night and she was still going from adrenaline and she was fine and she could drive and its her car and she was fine." I took one look at her half glazed over eyes and said uh no way you are not driving. She said but it's my car!! I said "Yea but I still have the key and I'll call dad if I have too." Yes, I'm 23 and married and I threatened to call my daddy to make my little sister behave haha. She finally conceded and agreed I should drive first.

The weather was gray and rainy and super windy. The snowboard that was attached to the roof would wriggle around like a puppy on a leash. The wind would get on the underside of the snowboard bag and the bag would twitch up and down reverberating on the roof. This resulted in the most annoying thumping sound. It was pretty funny though because the bag would only make the noise when Bek and I would talk to each other. At one point Bek looked up through the sunroof shook her finger at the snowboard and said, "Hey you up there. Yea I'm talking to you! You need to settle down. It's rude to interrupt other people's conversations. You just need to wait you turn and shush it." We were both tired and a little sleep deprived her more so than me and we burst out laughing for like 15 minutes. It was just one of those you had to be there for it to be funny kind of thing. After about two hours in, the snowboard started thumping again. Bek looked up in time to see it slide sideways and then go flying off the roof at about 70 mph. Instead of saying Sarah slow down or something like that all she could saw was, "No no no AHH AHH AHH." then she screamed really loud as it flew off. I pulled over and ran about half a mile back against the wind to retrieve the snowboard because I'm the best big sister ever. It's a good thing I've been exercising and working on my cardio because Idaho's elevation is was higher than Oklahoma's haha. Once we recovered the snowboard, Bek did a full all over inspection as she sweet talked to her snowboard saying, "Oh baby you're ok it's ok I'm sorry you're ok." So after the snowboard had been inspected and deemed all in one piece without any scratches we shoved and pushed it into the back until the glass on the rear door would close.

The first four hours of the drive Bek was awake and super hyper like a small kid with way to much candy. After finally getting some food in her and turning on a little Enya she passed out. She slept most of the way through Utah and some into Wyoming. When she woke up she insisted on driving again. I told her I'd let her drive once we got to Denver. Denver is about the halfway point. It's about 11-12 hours to home from Denver. She feel asleep on and off and when she would wake up she'd ask where we were. I knew that if I let her drive she wouldn't make it very far, and we'd have to pull over and rest. I made it almost to Kansas before she realized I had been fibbing about where we were. Once we got to Kansas it was about 1am in the morning. I finally agreed to let Bek drive because I was tired. As she drove and I dozed I kept waking up because it felt like we were all over the road. I asked her several times if she was ok and if I needed to drive. She said she was ok but around 4:50 am she shook me awake and said I think I need to stop I'm falling asleep. So she had made it about 3 hours before we had to pull over. We pulled over at a big busy truck stop and slept for a about 2 hours. She was still tired so I switched her places and got back into the captain's seat to navigate the rest of our drive. We made it into Oklahoma before I needed to stop again. We rested again for about and hour and then finally headed on the home stretch. We finally made it home around 1pm Sunday afternoon. It was a crazy long drive and we were both exhausted after the trip. I laid down and took a 3 hour nap then got on the road to Norman which is about a 1.5 hour drive from my dad's house. It was a good trip and nice quality time with my sister, but I was exhausted for the rest of the following week from basically being awake for 48 hours. The following video clips and pictures are just snippets that documented our travels.

A Little Willow Smith to get the Road Trip Started. Plus Bek is super hyper at this point.

Car Packed and Ready to Go

Seriously Stuffed

Bek Relieved "Her Baby was ok"



Finally Passed Out

In Oklahoma!!!

Military, Birthdays, and New Habits....

So John has been gone for three weeks now, and I only have a week left until I get to see him for FOUR WHOLE DAYS!! It has been a roller coaster of emotion, but fortunately I have a wonderful family who have been very supportive and checked up on me. I have been focusing a lot on school. If I'm not doing homework, I have been watching army wives. Throughout John's training this past few weeks I have gotten to talk to him everyday which has been a blessing.

I have picked up some new habits since John has gone to help with the loneliness. I now consume unhealthy amounts of lemonade and root beer because those are John's favorites. I also have started sleeping on his side of the bed. I surround myself with pillows so it doesn't feel so empty. It took me two nights to finally get up the courage to sleep in our bed by myself. I also have been listening to a lot of books on CD in the car. I have also been spending a lot of time with family. It has been lonely, but I'm adjusting ok. I just hate that John has missed so much in just a month. The good thing is that we are a month down so only 11 or so more to go!!

We celebrated Jordyn's third birthday the first weekend in March at Incredible pizza. It was Toy Story themed. Ever since the third movie came out Jordyn has been all about Toy Story. She wore jeans her cowboy boots and her Jessie tshirt to her birthday party. She also called me to inform me the should could not be like Toy Story if she did not have braids. She asked very politely in her sweet three year old voice if "puwease can you come over to bwaid my hair" I of course could not refuse such a request and hurried over to french braid her hair before her party. She had a blast eating pizza and cake, and then playing games. We even rode a go kart. She was very excited even though we had to ride in the slow race because she was barely tall enough to ride. She informed me "Mommy doesn't like go Karts. You go with me!!" I asked Amy if she wanted to take Jo and she said no she's right I do not like go Karts. So we went to stand in line for our turn. We came in third place, but I think we could have won if the woman in front of us didn't keep cutting us off. She didn't even have a kid with her. All in all it was a good time had by all.

Jordyn's Toy Story Cake

Checking out the Elmo pick up game

Going "super fast" in the go kart

Super excited to ride the go karts

Eating pizza excited for her party

Snowmageddon

Oklahoma exprienced a massive snow storm last week. The Tulsa area got 14 inches of snow over 12 hours or so. Norman received 9-10 inches in the same amount of time. School was cancelled state wide even universities. OU was closed Tuesday through Friday. And my sister Samantha is still out of school. Her school has been closed from Tuesday last week to today. The best part is it supposed to start snowing again tonight with snow anywhere from 6-10 inches again. Norman cleared out and melted over the weekend, but the streets in the Tulsa, Sapulpa area were still awful. If anyone knows anything about Oklahoma you know that we have some of the worst constructed roads and highways in the United States. Why I don't know, but 14 inches of snow and 1-2 inches of ice don't help the already bad roads. Needless to say many people got stuck in all the drifts and abandoned their cars on the side of highways and side streets.

John and I made it home over the weekend just fine in my car which is all- wheel drive. Then my superbly talented husband managed to get my dad's four-wheel drive truck stuck right after having driven without any complications. He was not a happy camper, but the look on his face was priceless, the what the heck this can't have just really happened look. Classic. Of course he couldn't just get it a little stuck he high centered it. All the shovels were conviently in the basement. The problem, the basement door was frozen shut. So this allowed for a little creativity on my part. I gave john a long broom handle that he used to dig his way out a little. Then he said he needed some more weight in the back of the bed to help weigh the truck down, in order to become unstuck. The master plan, Samantha myself and three dogs got in the back of the truck with sand bags and a chain to weigh down the bed of the truck. After much spinning of tires and smell of burning rubber and 10 minutes we were able to become free of all snow. We did however cause lots of ice from John melting the snow with his tires, which once free on his tires froze into ice.

Despite all the bad roads and cold temperatures, we did enjoy getting to spend so much time together. John's sister and niece built a cute snowman in his parents front yard. Jordyn enjoyed herself in all the snow. Amy, her momma, tried to help Jordyn to make a snow angel, but the snow had melted and frozen a little again. Jordyn is a very petite little girl and didn't weigh enough to actaully sink down in the snow, so Amy had to push her down in the snow. It still didn't work very well but it was funny trying to watch them make snow angels. Well with the next snow storm on the way we have stocked up and are ready to hunker down again if need be.

Jordyn and her snowman

Jordyn, Amy, Laurie, Trisha, and Jen with the snowman they made

Snow on our balcony

Snow on my dad's deck

John and I bundled up to walk to walmart

Blankets and Dogs.....

So now that baby Hannah and Jordyn have gotten their quilts I can finally post pictures of my hard work!!

Jordyn's Butterfly

Hannah's Teddy Bear

I finished them down to the last second Christmas Eve. These particular pictures are before I frayed all the edges. I loved the way they turned out!! I need to get a picture of the girls all snuggled up in their blankets

In other news we moved our puppies down to Norman for a trial period. They had been living at my dad's, as predominately outside dogs. Lucky us we have had the wonderful joy of potty training. Sofie is already pretty much potty trained , but Lucy only being 6 months old is still working on it. Fortunatley we haven't had to many accidents, and the few we've have had have been small and NO number 2's!! 

They have been adjusting well. I on the other hand have not been doing so well. My allergies have been killer, so we are debating about whether or not they will be able to stay with me while John is gone. Even if they aren't able to stay we have been enjoying them here at our apartment. 

Sofie wasn't too sure of the stairs when we fisrt brought her, but now she's quite a dainty little lady going down the stairs. After walks Lucy will run up the stairs, and peek around the corner until we come up. Sofie on the other hand waits until we come up behind her. She will turn around and come back down the stairs if we aren't following close enough behind. This video is one of the times this has happened.



So far everything is quiet the way we like it. I'm hoping that I will be able to adjust to them being inside. All is well in the Lowe Home!!

Christmas, New Year's etc.

Our holiday season began as soon as finals were over. John got to take his finals a week early because he had a military training thing during finals. I was home alone during finals week, but in some ways it was good because I didn't have to many distractions. After my last final my best friend BK and I went to our other best friend, Cassie, graduation. It really made me want to be done with school, but I still have a year or so left. We were supposed to go to another friend's graduation party that weekend, but lucky us we both got sick. John was much more sick than I was. Fortunately we both recovered, but John has been slower to recover than I have.

Me, Cass, and BK after Cass' graduation

Once feeling better we helped my sisters decorate the REAL Christmas tree at my dad's house. We got John to actually take a few pictures by guilting him into them. We finished our Christmas shopping with a few days to spare. I let John help me wrap this year, which was difficult for me. I am admittedly an obsessive wrapper. The ends on the paper must match and be folded down both directions. John folds down one side and pulls the other to the underside of the box. I also will tape the paper to the box with exactly three pieces of tape. I enjoy using ribbon and bows. John of course loves watching me concentrate and spend ten minutes wrapping a present that his niece can open in five seconds. He gives me a hard time, but he did try to follow my directions a little better because he didn't want me to re wrap the presents he wrapped. I know it's weird and a little obsessive compulsive, but if that's my one vice I think I'll be okay.

All the Sisters

Classic Hannah and Samantha Faces

John Finally giving us a good smile

This year Christmas was fairly hectic. We woke up at 6 am to go to John's parent's house to open presents, ate breakfast, and then hustled back to my dad's to open presents. We  then hustled back to John's parents for dinner, and of course bustled our way back to my dad's house after to eat dinner again. Fortunately our parents only live like ten minutes apart, so that is a huge blessing and makes Christmas with both families possible.

John and I were attempting to make all of our Christmas gifts this year, but after I made two quilts for his nieces I said yea forget that haha. I would've loved to have made all the presents, but we just didn't have enough time this year. So instead of home made, fill the cockles of your heart with warmth and love presents, we went for useful presents. 

We got lots of gifts from family and Santa. Jen, John's sister, got Just Dance one and two from Santa and that was a big hit at the Lowe home. I managed to capture a hilarious video of John and his Dad dancing to Louie Louie, but I can't share this hilarity because John would kill me. I also captured Jo and Jen dancing. Jo only being three didn't really get the concept of the wii remote, so it was strapped very securely to her wrist. She would let go of it and spin in circles. She almost took out the cat at one point. She may not have been a high scorer, but girl can shake what her momma gave her.

We had a good Christmas with our family and lots of food. New Year's wasn't to exciting for us. We had some small family emergencies right before so most of John's family was out of town. My family had a small emergency also so we didn't have any big plans. Since most of John's family was out of town, John and his dad watched the New Year's Rockin Eve, while his 14 year old sister and I played makeup. We had our toast with sprite and kiss and then ended the evening.

We have a month off for Christmas vacation from school, and it's almost over. We have spent most of our break with family. Fortunately we both have great families that make us laugh and know how to have a good clean time. I've been spending most of my time with my sisters and John's super cute nieces, oh and John of course. Unfortunately school starts next week, but I'm looking forward to my classes. Hopefully the next semester can be as fun as this Christmas break has been.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Decorating!!

This year Thanksgiving consisted of my three younger sisters, my dad, my grandpa, and my uncle and his girlfriend. Hannah and Samantha made all of the pies. I made our cranberry surprise and homemade yeast rolls, recipe via my wonderful friend Nat. Then my dad made the mashed potatoes. While us girls finished up the green bean casserole and sweet potatoes. My grandpa brought stuffing and the turkey, and my uncle brought more sweet potatoes and stuffing. We wound up having way to much food. We made five pies anticipating my older sisters and their kids to come over some time during the break. Unfortunately every one's schedules were to busy for us to get together.

I have the most wonderful in-laws that worked around my cooking/eating schedule at my dad's house. The night before Thanksgiving John's younger sister and I helped his mom make the pumpkin pies, which were made with real pumpkin. My mother-in-law is a domestic goddess and cooked down pumpkin mush as I called it (just the inside of a pumpkin). This in turn was our pumpkin flavor. IT WAS AMAZING!!! That was my first experience with a real pumpkin pie, no canned filling.

John and I had to eat twice in one day, and go back and forth to help cook. It was a challenge, but I think we handled it really well. John's family was so gracious and accommodating to my other schedule that everything worked out perfectly. Nothing to exciting happened except eating and cooking. My sisters and John played alot of Halo Reach and watched him play the new Fable game for the xbox360.

John was such a good sport and helped out alot. Even though we kept pushing him out of the kitchen, he was very attentive and always asking if he could do anything to help. He kept an eye on the rolls for me so they wouldn't burn, while I worked on other things. All in all it was a wonderful quiet Thanksgiving.

Great Pic of John answering a phone call while watching the rolls. He has two oven mitts on and was trying to block out all the noise with one and hold his phone in the other.

After two yummy meals.

I am a firm believer in not decorating until December 1st at least. I really hate that stores start putting out Christmas stuff after Halloween. It bugs me because they are like hey forget about Thanksgiving and just start buying stuff for presents. Thanksgiving is an important holiday. It's one to remember why your grateful and how blessed you are. I don't want to be distracted from that by discounted sales and great deals and become another blind consumer. I don't mind people who put up their Christmas trees after Thanksgiving, but at least wait until you have eaten. I don't put ours up until it's December, that way I can remember what November should be about. Plus November is my mother's birthday and my sister Rebekah's birthday. My mother always said that Santa appreciated patience from good little girls and that he wanted us to remember what Thanksgiving was about.

So today was DECEMBER 1ST!!! So I excitedly asked John all day when we could put up our Christmas tree. I'm so excited for Christmas this year because John and I are making many of our presents. Not all of them will be home made but we are trying to give everyone at least one home made item. I can't divulge to much because it's driving my sister-in-law Kara crazy to not know what I'm making her 6 mo old daughter for Christmas. I love Christmas because growing up it was all about family and the miracle of the birth of Christ. My mother has a beautiful porcelain nativity set that we put out every year, and it's honestly one of my most favorite decorations. I've been hinting to John for awhile that I really like the Willow Tree nativity scene, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Sadly we didn't get a real tree this year. Growing up we NEVER had fake trees and neither did John, but we had this little tree that I got last year when we lived with at my dad's in his basement. Our room wasn't big enough for a real tree so I surprised John one day last December with a little pre-lit fake tree to make it more cozy. Our first Christmas together we did have a real tree, but not so this year. Yes I did have to hold back tears when John said well lets just use the small fake tree since we won't even really be in Norman after finals. I grudgingly agreed and up went our cozy little tree.

I love decorating Christmas trees. My mom loved cluttered trees with all of our home made ornaments and special ornaments she had collected over the years. We used to always make Christmas chains out of red and green construction paper to decorate around the ceiling and arches in the living room. I did keep with tradition this year and got everyone Christmas PJ's when they were on sale at old navy. John and Hannah have polar bears. Sam has reindeer. Bek has Christmas trees. I have snowflakes and my dad said ah I won't wear them I always just wear scrubs to bed.

I told John that when we grow up and have our dream house (whenever that may come to pass) that I needed a formal living room and then a family room. He asked why, and I replied so we can have TWO Christmas trees. So we could have a fancy formal one in the front and the chunky covered to death in home made decorations one in the family room where we would actually open presents. I love the smell and freshness that a real Christmas tree brings to a home. One year my dad actually bought a live tree that we planted after Christmas. It's cool because now its his backyard and every year we look at that tree we remember that long ago Christmas.

John's family has a really cool tradition that we incorporated into our Christmas traditions. Every year everyone in the family gets a new Christmas ornament before they get the tree. This year our ornament is a piece we picked up when we visited Rome. It's just really cool because you can see the difference in personalities on John's parents trees. Once the kid moves out they get to take their ornaments with them. So our little tree is covered in clunky and beautiful ornaments carried along through out John's childhood.

When I decorate a Christmas tree I try to break up the colors so you have to actually look at everything, and you  don't just look at a focal point. And yes I even decorate the back of the tree that no one can see. I got that habit from helping and watching my mother decorate our tree when I was growing up. She used to say don't you think the back will be sad if he or she doesn't get to dress up all fancy like the front. This was always followed by laughs and giggles by myself and my sisters because my mom was insistent on not hurting the back side of the tree's feelings.

Our stockings! Our real ones are at my dad's so we bought cheap ones and put a Little Gingerbread Woman and Gingerbread Man on the stockings

Our little decorated Christmas tree

The tree in comparison to John

We always use an angel as a Christmas topper.

The story behind why I always put an Angel on the Top is very sweet. I don't know whether or not it is a true story, but it is one my mother always told us growing up. I have not been able to find any documentation to verify this story, but even if it didn't really happen it's a good story.

My mother was born in Germany on and Army base. She did not live in the US until she was four and she spoke very little English. Her nanny was German and so she learned German and English at the same time, but heard German more often because of her nanny. So this story may have come from said nanny.

The story: In a small German village there was a sculptor that had a young daughter that he loved very much. She was a beautiful little girl with bright blue eyes and long dark blond ringlets. She would play and draw while her father sculpted pieces that people paid him to make. His daughter was always a happy child, and loved to play outdoors when the weather was fair. During World War II the sculptor's shop was bombed and everything was destroyed. His precious little girl died in the accident. The sculptor was so sad that he couldn't sculpt for a very long time. You see his daughter had been his inspiration. One night he had a dream of his daughter laughing a playing in Heaven. She turned and looked at him, and said Daddy don't cry I am happy in heaven. God gave me wings and made me one of his angels. I want you to be happy. I miss you but we will see each other again. After the man awoke from this dream all he could picture was his daughter's cherubic face looking down on him. He started sculpting her face over and over until it was as close to a perfect replica his hands could make. Once he made the face, he sculpted a body with wings. He then added his daughter's face to the Angel, and set it in the window so she could always watch over him. A woman walking by saw this beautiful Angel in the window and rushed into the story asking the man how much he would sell it for. He said he could not sell the angel because it was inspired by is deceased daughter. He told the woman I could never put a price on that face, but I can make another if you truly wish to have one. The woman said she couldn't let him create something so beautiful with out compensating him. He refused any payment and said it was his Christmas gift to the woman. She finally agreed since he said it would be a gift. When she picked up the finished piece the sculptor had hollowed out the inside and left a sheer material for the clothes so the woman could put a candle near the Angel and it would shimmer and shine. The woman showed her beautiful new Angel to all her friends who all decided they must have a copy of this breathtaking Angel. The sculptor would not accept any money for his sculptures, but gave them all away as gifts. When people asked why he wouldn't take any money he would look in the window at his first Angel and say my little Angel wouldn't accept money for her beauty so why should I. That year when he placed his Christmas tree in his shop he put his little Angel on the top so she could see all the decorations and look down on him. When the women and men who bought his little Angels saw his tree they followed suit.

And to this day that is why I use an Angel  as a tree topper. I know the star is traditional, as the guiding light to the shepherds, but the Angel that guided the shepherds and told them of Christ's coming is equally important. I like to think of my Angel now as my mother's gift to me. She will always be there to watch us and look out for us. It may not be a real story, but it's real to me because that is why my mom put an Angel on our tree every year. I have continued the tradition as well as my sisters. Hopefully we can pass it on to our children. I love the holidays and I'm so excited for all of our home made gifts this year!!